How are pressure and pit volume doing during the first circulation of the driller’s method?

When we perform the first circulation of driller’s method, the casing pressure will increase due to gas expansion and the maximum casing pressure will be observed when the gas influx reaches surface.

When gas is moved upward during circulation, the gas will expand due to pressure decrease (refer to Boyle’s gas law P1V1 = P2V2). The higher gas is moved up inside annulus, the higher expansion will be. Therefore, the system hydrostatic pressure will be decreased. For this reason, the casing pressure will increase in order to maintain constant bottom hole pressure.

Let take a look at the equation

Bottom hole pressure constant = Casing Pressure (increase to compensate for loss hydrostatic pressure) + Hydrostatic Pressure (decrease due to gas expansion).

When the gas in the mud starts coming out on surface, the casing pressure will continually decrease. If the gas kick in the annulus is totally out of hole, casing pressure should be equal to Shut-In Drillpipe Pressure (SIDPP). Casing pressure sometimes may be slightly more than SIDPP due to safety factor that you add while circulating. In addition, pit volume will increase until gas reaches surface due to gas expansion. When gas reaches surface, the pit volume will start to decrease.

The plot below demonstrates pressure profile of both casing pressure and tubing pressure during 1st circulation of driller’s method.

Note: you need to understand that this article is based on the following assumptions;

• Water base mud

• Well bore influx (kick) = gas

Reference book: Well Control Books